Let’s talk about GEL NAIL POLISH!!!
Anything you need in a manicure is available at bornpretty.com
WHY would I even use gel polish?gel is not for everyone! If you have no interest in it, that’s fine!!! But I have done gel nails on clients and myself and I just LOVE IT! Here are my top reasons:
- It looks so shiny and beautiful, the exact look is just not achievable with regular polish
- There is no dry time, you can move on with your life right when you’re done without any worry!
- This is THE BEST for nail art. You freeze your art in place, no smudging, so many cool techniques you can do with gel!!! It’s a nail artist’s dream.
- You literally are FREEZING your work into place, and it LASTS
- This is the reason that I exclusively do gel nails on clients!! Think about it… If you are spending good money and time on a manicure, you wouldn’t want it to accidentally chip or smudge the same day. With regular polish (and ESPECIALLY when you do nail art), you can ruin your nails, break a nail, etc. at any time after your appointment. Of course this can happen with gel, but it’s far less likely! With proper prep and following my process (more on that below), your manicure will be frozen and will LAST for two to three weeks!
This is a HUGE misconception. Gel polish does not make your nails weak, but bad gel polish removal DOES! Gel adheres to your nails much stronger than regular polish, therefore the removal process is more intense/time consuming. We want to PROPERLY remove the gel so that we don't accidentally peel off layers of our nail plate. If you pick at your gel and peel it off, you're actually peeling off the top layers of your literal nail, making it weaker and bendy!! In my experience, gel has actually made my nails stronger and has allowed them to grow longer without breaking!
How do you remove it properly?
If you want to fully remove your gel polish, I am going in depth about the process that I recommend in my new course! Basically, we are filing off the top layers of gel, soaking it with acetone, and repeating with filing/buffing/soaking until all of the polish is off, and we are being patient and gentle!
You need to set aside enough time to gently remove it all! At salons, nail techs only have a certain amount of time for you, so they need to rush! We are not rushing and we are being careful!! Once you remove your gel, I would recommend putting a strengthening base on, and using lots of cuticle oil if your nails feel a little weird after having something so strong on, and now being naked. It's normal for them to feel a little soft after soaking in acetone, but the next day at the latest they should be back to normal!
FAQs:
Can I use regular polish and a gel top coat? Or mix regular polish with gel polish in any way?
No! UNLESS you are putting regular polish over a full gel mani like I described above in the Gel Base section. I wouldn’t recommend putting a gel top coat over regular polish, or sandwiching regular polish between gel layers. They just aren’t meant to work together like that!!
I already struggle with dry peeling nails, would this damage them more?
This could actually be a great solution for you! With gel, you are covering your nail completely, and eliminating exposure to the elements, which could make your nails stronger and more resilient! Of course you should still be putting on cuticle oil daily and wearing gloves when you clean/do dishes etc!
I like to change colors frequently and gel is hard to take off…
I hear you!!! Again, I’m not trying to convince you to switch to gel, but if you love gel and want to get back into it, you can do the following:
- Paint your nails with just a gel base, and then use regular polish over the top so you can change it as much as you want
- Instead of doing the entire gel removal process every time, do the game-changing process that I outlined above!
